MLB.com beat writer Brian McTaggart blogs about all things Astros.

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Astros hitting coach John Mallee has accepted the position as the Cubs’ Major League hitting coach.

Mallee just finished his second season with the Astros and helped Jose Altuve win the American League batting title while the club made offensive strides as a whole.

Mallee could have returned to the Astros under new manager A.J. Hinch, but he’s from Chicago and couldn’t pass up the chance to return home where his family lives.

“Dream come true,” Mallee said in a statement. “I have been in professional baseball as a player or coach for over 20 years and have never had an opportunity to see my family during the season until now. I grew up a Cub fan and always dreamed of standing on the field and representing this amazing franchise.

“Leaving the Houston Astros is the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make. Amazing owner, general manager, front office and beyond talented players. I wish my Houston family the best of luck and their future successes and hope they can understand and respect that I had to make the best decision for my family.”

When the American League Championship Series gets underway Friday, Astros president of business operations Reid Ryan and executive advisor Nolan Ryan will be keeping a close eye on the battle between the Orioles and Royals.

Both teams feature familiar faces for the Ryans in the dugout, front office and coaching staff from their years in baseball. There are some former Rangers playing for the Orioles, including Chris Davis and Nelson Cruz, as well as a handful of players who came through the Ryan-owned Minor Leagues clubs in Corpus Christi and Round Rock, including Bud Norris and Jimmy Paredes.

Nolan Ryan, former president of the Rangers, is also friends with Royals legend George Brett, who was inducted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 alongside Ryan.

“I’ve kind of pulled for Kansas City for a while now because of the fact that I know a lot of people over there, and I’ve been watching them progress the last few years,” Nolan Ryan said.

The Ryans know plenty of people with the Royals considering the two clubs share the same Spring Training facility in Surprise, Ariz.

“The Orioles and Royals are my sentimental favorites,” Reid Ryan said. “I know a lot of guys over there, as well as John Russell, who was instrumental in my dad’s career.”

“He played at [the University of Oklahoma] and so we’ve had fun over the years keeping up with him and his wife, who’s a good friend who I knew at TCU,” Reid Ryan said. “We watched him go through his Minor League managing career and Major League coaching ranks. He’s one of those guys you’re going to hear his name in the next few years as a manager candidate.”

Astros third base coach Pat Listach will interview with general manager Jeff Luhnow on Saturday at Citi Field for the full-time managerial position, a source told MLB.com.

Houston interim manager Tom Lawless was also scheduled to interview with Luhnow on Saturday as it searches to find a full-time replacement for Bo Porter, who was dismissed Sept. 1. The Astros have also talked to Triple-A Reno manager Phil Nevin, while A.J. Hinch, Dino Ebel, Torey Lovullo, Don Wakamatsu and Dave Martinez have been mentioned as candidates.

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported Saturday that Pirates bench coach Jeff Banister had completed two interviews with the Astros. Banister played at the University of Houston and grew up in the area.

Listach, 47, joined the Astros a year ago from the Dodgers, where he served as the organization’s Minor League infield coordinator in 2013. Prior to that, Listach coached on the Major League staffs for the Cubs (2011-12) and Nationals (2009-10) for two years apiece. He also has nine years of Minor League coaching experience in the Cubs system from ’00-08.

Listach played in six Major League seasons, which included time with the Brewers (1992-96) and the Astros (’97), and was named the ’92 American League Rookie of the Year. He hit .182 in 52 games on the Astros’ division-winning team in ’97, a veteran team that included Jeff Bagwell, Brad Ausmus, Craig Biggio, Sean Berry, Ricky Gutierrez, Tim Bogar, Luis Gonzalez, Darryl Kile and Mike Hampton.

The Astros have received permission to interview former big leaguer Phil Nevin to be their manager, a baseball source confirmed for MLB.com. Nevin, the former No. 1 overall draft pick by the Astros, is managing in the D-backs system at Triple-A Reno.

Nevin, 43, played 12 years in the Major Leagues after being taken by the Astros with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1992 First-Year Player Draft. He was a bust with the Astros, but wound up having a solid career by hitting .270 with 208 homers and 743 RBIs with the Astros, Tigers, Angels, Padres, Rangers, Cubs and Twins.

Nevin managed three seasons at Triple-A Toledo in the Tigers system before the D-backs hired him to managed this year at Reno.

Astros interim manager Tom Lawless will interview with general manager Jeff Luhnow on Saturday in New York for the full-time managerial position. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported earlier the Astros have interviewed at least five candidates by phone: A.J. Hinch, Dino Ebel, Torey Lovullo, Don Wakamatsu and Dave Martinez.

Whether interim manager Tom Lawless gets a chance to have the job permanently remains to be seen, but he’s worked well so far with interim bench coach Adam Everett. Lawless has been coaching in baseball for years, but for Everett it’s pretty much on-the-job training.

“He’s only been coaching for a couple of years,” Lawless said. He’s learned how to do it. His demeanor is like mine, except he’s a little bit more forceful than I am, which is good. We talk with each other. He can say some things I probably can’t say in the dugout and that’s how it’s worked, and it’s worked out pretty well.

“We have a really good relationship with everybody in the dugout and on the team, and when the atmosphere is that comfortable you can get your point across in different ways. Adam has learned that and Adam can do it, and I think Adam is going to be a very good coach for a long time. He’s knowledgeable, he knows the game, knows how to play the game, knows what to do in the game. To have him a part of what we’re trying to do here, it’s a great thing.”

Fresno, which had been partnered with the San Francisco Giants, will replace Oklahoma City, which had served as the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate the previous four years. The Dodgers bought a stake in Oklahoma City and will move their Triple-A operations there.

The Grizzlies play at Chukchansi Park in downtown Fresno. The park, which opened in 2002, seats 12,500 fans and features a semi-irregular field shape with dimensions measuring 324 feet down the left field line, 385 in left center, 400 in center field and 335 to the right field foul pole.

Fresno is in the PCL Northern division with Reno, Sacramento and Tacoma.

With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season and George Springer’s strained left quad not 100 percent healthy, the Astros announced on Tuesday the rookie outfielder would sit out the remainder of the regular season.

The decision certainly comes as no surprise, considering Springer hasn’t played for the Astros since July 19 against the White Sox in Chicago. He went on a Minor League rehab assignment in August, but he suffered a setback and hasn’t been able to completely heal the injury.

“It’s tough, but at this point the goal is to just get through the year healthy and get to 2015 and just be as healthy as I can,” Springer said.

Astros interim manager Tom Lawless said general manager Jeff Luhnow and the team trainers sat down with Springer on Monday to map out his future, and the decision was made with the blessing of Springer.

We felt the best thing for the organization is that George doesn’t play anymore the rest of the year,” Lawless said. “In reality, it would have to be a rehab stint when you play him and get an at-bat here and at-bat there. Will eight, nine at-bats make a difference as opposed to the other alternative when he goes out there and tweaks it again, and now we’re set back again?

“We’re going to shut him down and he’s going to take batting practice and rehab when the season’s over, and he’s going to leave here healthy. And when he comes to Spring Training, he’s going to be ready to go.”

Springer’s competitive nature made it that much more difficult for him to miss so much time.

“It’s brutal,” he said. “The goal is to play and it’s tough for me to sit here every day and to know what I can’t play.”

Springer, the Astros’ Minor League Most Valuable Player a year ago, made his much-anticipated Major League debut in April and appeared in 78 games, hitting .231 with 20 homers and 51 RBIs and showing the flash and potential that has the Astros believing he’ll be a cornerstone player for years to come.

The 24-year-old was named the American League Rookie of the Month for May, hitting .294 (30-for-102) with four doubles, one triple, 10 homers, 25 RBIs, 22 runs scored and 13 walks in 26 games to claim his first monthly award. He was the first Astros player to win Rookie of the Month honors since Hunter Pence in May 2007, when the club was still competing in the National League.

“It’s been a great experience so far, and obviously have a lot more to learn and obviously think I could have done better overall,” he said. “In my 300 at-bats, I’ve learned and I’ve grown and I go off of that into 2015.”

Springer has been working out with the club for the past month in an effort to get healthy, but the team wasn’t going to take any chances if he wasn’t 100 percent.

“He wanted to play, and really we left the decision a lot up to him and what is the best for George Springer,” Lawless said. “We’re looking at is as an organization in the long run, and the importance of eight or 10 at-bats in the big picture doesn’t make any sense taking that chance. That’s what he decided, and everyone was on board with that.”

Springer said the bigger picture is more important.

“The goal is for me to play 162 games and for me it’s tough,” he said. “Being a player and a competitor, I want to play, but at the same time you have to protect yourself and sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do.”

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